Russian giant Gazprom may invite Chinese and South Korean companies to help develop the Chayanda oil and gas field (eastern Siberia), said Valery Golubev, deputy chief executive officer of the Russian gas exporter.

South Korean and Chinese companies may join the project as services contractors, Golubev told reporters today in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. He didn’t name the companies.

Gazprom, the world’s biggest gas producer, targets Chayanda as “the main base field” for exports to Asia, said Vsevolod Cherepanov, head of the gas, condensate and oil production department in June. In the first half of next year, the Moscow- based company plans to complete an investment study for Chayanda, which may match supply volumes to Europe in the future.

The field holds 1.24 trillion cubic meters of gas and 68.4 million metric tons of oil and condensate. Crude production may start in 2014, to be followed by gas output in 2016. Gazprom is yet to start building a pipeline connecting the field with existing and planned infrastructure on the Pacific coast.